Does affordable housing near light rail isolate poor? Or fend off gentrification?

Light-rail projects such as the Central Corridor or its future extension, the Southwest Line, are touted by officials as ways to connect low-income workers and residents of affordable housing to jobs throughout the metro.

But Jeffry Martin isn't convinced. As president of the St. Paul Chapter of the NAACP, he worries that the Metropolitan Council is directing too much funding toward large-scale affordable housing developments along urban transit corridors and not in whiter, wealthier suburbs such as Plymouth and Minnetonka.

Martin is concerned that by putting too many low-income units along the light-rail line, Met Council housing policies are segregating racial minorities.

"I think it is oversaturated, especially along the corridor," Martin said. "The reality is, the higher-paying jobs are in the suburbs, and most low-income people do have cars."

The Central Corridor, or Green Line, is expected to connect downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul on June 14, and a coalition of foundations and organizers are much more optimistic that it will benefit many of the metro's most vulnerable residents.

Members of the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative say "workforce housing" developments targeted to the working poor and middle-income earners actually can stabilize a neighborhood as rents increase in response to the light rail.

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In poor neighborhoods, affordable housing may even bring up the average income on a street, advocates say. Workforce housing tends to be geared toward workers earning up to 60 percent of area median income, which is about $82,000 for a family of four in the Twin Cities.

The Central Corridor Funders Collaborative "Big Picture Project" projects that 2,500 affordable housing units will be preserved or constructed along the Central Corridor in Minneapolis and St. Paul from 2011 to 2020, at a cost of $445 million. The project has set a "stretch" goal of expanding that to 4,500 units, for a total estimated price tag of $832 million.

Planners with the Metropolitan Council say suburbs are, indeed, setting their own affordable housing goals through their comprehensive plans.

As cities grow, they're trying to preserve a mix of housing for different income levels. "The council is working to provide affordable housing choice across the region and allow people to make housing choices about where they want to live," said Beth Reetz, director of Housing and Livable Communities for the Met Council.

That said, officials have looked to Seattle, Portland and other cities and noticed that home and rental prices tend to go up near new light-rail lines. "The effect of that gentrification is that lower-income households move farther away from that investment," said Libby Starling, a regional policy manager with the Met Council. "There's the risk that they're priced out."

Rather than introduce poverty, affordable housing near transit can help locals stay in the neighborhood and ensure a diverse mix of incomes, she said.

A draft of the Met Council's housing policy plan is due out by fall.

Arguments about where to locate affordable housing have been hotly debated within advocacy circles. Two forums next week will touch on it as well as other issues.

On Monday, University of Minnesota law professor Myron Orfield will host a discussion at the law school about suburban diversity and affordable housing. Various groups will comment on the Met Council's housing policies from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 170 of the law school's Walter F. Mondale Hall, 229 19th Ave. S.

Several cities and community groups will be represented. Martin and Jim Hilbert will represent the St. Paul NAACP.

Orfield believes that the heavy emphasis on building housing along transit lines guarantees that affordable units land in cities and school districts that already have plenty of diversity and plenty of need.

"Let's leave the white suburbs, like we did with the white neighborhoods in the cities, off the hook entirely? ... These newer suburbs end up being a little like a tax shelter -- Minnetonka, Plymouth, Lakeville, Afton," Orfield said.

On Wednesday, the Funders Collaborative will host its fifth annual "stakeholder event" at the St. Paul Union Depot. The forum, organized around the question "Are We Ready?" looks at key indicators of job growth, job access, housing and private investment along the light-rail line.

The forum takes place from 8 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Union Depot Red Cap room, 214 Fourth St. E. Their score sheet is expected to give good marks to the light-rail project for inspiring developments along the rail line. Housing affordability gets a rating of "so far, so good," and job access is "to be determined."

More details from the Central Corridor Tracker Report will be released at the forum. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Central Corridor Funders Collaborative co-chairs Ann Mulholland and Polly Talen and Wilder research associate Jane Tigan are among the speakers scheduled.

Bob Streetar, community-development director of Oakdale, spent years working for the wealthier suburb of Minnetonka and for Columbia Heights, which has more concentrated poverty and more racial minorities. Streetar will be sitting in on the panel Monday, but he's not ready to fully endorse or reject Orfield's point of view.

"Generally, it seems like the Met Council policy plan is looking to solve a housing issue," said Streetar. "What I hear Myron Orfield say is some of those policies cause issues for cities and school districts by promoting concentrations of poverty in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and along Interstate 94 and some inner-ring suburbs. I'm still trying to think it through. It's complex. For every complex problem, there's an answer that's simple, clear and usually wrong."